A considerable number of devices have been devised in the past to crush empty cylindrical cans that previously held beverages, fruits or vegetables, or motor oil, for example. Generally the historical focus has been on crushing the can in the most efficient way possible in terms of cost and effort so that the remnants take up much less space in a garbage bag or a box until they are finally disposed of permanently. However, in recent years, wide-spread concern about the environment has led to the enactment of what has been popularly called "bottle bills" which require manufacturers of soft drinks and beer to charge a deposit on cans as well as on other beverage containers, such as bottles, traditionally subjected to deposits by some manufacturers, so as to encourage the purchaser to return the empty containers to the store rather than discard them. It is believed that the small economic impetus created by the reimbursement of the deposit charge will make the consumer less likely to litter with the empty containers and will help to preserve natural resources by encouraging manufacturers of beverage containers to reuse the containers or recycle the materials of which the containers are made. It is further believed that those beverage containers which are nonetheless thoughtlessly discarded in public places will soon be picked up by children to whom the five to twenty five cents deposit refund looks like a substantial windfall and who are thus eager to return them for the deposit.
Unfortunately, these bottle bills have caused a number of storage and transportation problems. Empty cans and bottles take up as much space as full cans and bottles in the home of the consumer, in the storeroom of a grocery store, and in the cargo compartment of a truck. Thus, the requirement of storing and handling these used containers creates inconvenience for all parties involved and increases overhead expenses by an amount that may greatly exceed the savings resulting from the recycling of the materials. Some pharmacies, fruit markets, and other low volume retailers of beverages have attempted to evade the requirements of the law, for example by refusing to accept large quantities or have completely stopped selling beverages for this reason.
Unlike bottles which may be sterilized and refilled, empty cans must eventually be crushed and their component materials discarded or recycled and thus the costs involved might be prohibitive. However, cans are safer, more compact, lighter, and easier to store than bottles. It would therefore be desirable to encourage the use of cylindrical cans by providing a device which can fold or crush these empty cans so that they will take up a fraction of the space they currently occupy. Merely crushing the cans, however, in a conventional fashion simply will not suffice. Most states currently have no statutory deposit requirements and yet the bottlers use essentially the same designs on their cans across state lines. To avoid fraud, therefore, the cans must be identifiable as deposit cans. Furthermore, the trademark on the side of the can must be identifiable so that the can will be returned to the proper supplier.
Reading the material printed on the ends and on the side of cans is either time-consuming and inconvenient, or even impossible, once the cans have been crushed by most prior art can crushing devices. Devices, for example such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,683,957; 3,106,888; 3,374,730 and 3,916,780 which flatten the can in a plane through its longitudinal axis, render the written material on either circular end face of the can unreadable. Yet one of the faces, generally the upper face, is precisely where the deposit information is printed. The same inconveniences exist with the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,806 in which the can is folded in half after it is flattened. Another method for crushing cans, utilized in devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,737,995; 2,773,536; 2,958,273; 2,982,200 and 4,133,261 is to squeeze the two end faces of the can towards each other. This is just as unsatisfactory for purposes of the bottle bill because, after the operation is complete, the cylindrical wall is entirely obscured and thus identification of the trademark or the name of the manufacturer or bottler is impossible.
The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,732,804 and 3,832,941 come closest to producing a crushed can wherein all the relevant printed matter is identifiable. In these crushers, the can is creased at the center of its cylindrical wall either prior to or during the crushing operation. However, in most of the embodiments disclosed, two separate manual operations are required, the first to crease the can and the second to complete the fold of the can. In the remaining embodiments disclosed, the creasing element is never fully retracted during the crushing operation and thus the printed material on the end faces of the can are partly obstructed. These patents represent the most relevant prior art known to the applicant at the time of filing.
What is needed, therefore, is a can folding and crushing apparatus for use in retail outlets or in homes of consumers to fold and crush cylindrical cans in one quick and smooth operation in a manner such that the folded and crushed can is identifiable as a deposit can and such that the name or tradmark of the manufacturer may be readily determined.